Subterrain: Review

Set in the year 2050, mankind has established MPO, the first
colony on Mars. The facilities of the colony have been built deep underground
to escape the inhospitable climate of the Martian surface. All seems to be going
well on Mars until the game of survival begins.

Subterrain is a top down survival game developed and
published by PixelLore, released on the 21st of January 2016 on PC however it is now available on the current generation of consoles. Subterrain sees you
take control of the character Albert West, a former doctor once working on a
cure for Alzheimer’s, but is now imprisoned for murder after an unfortunate accident
in a research lab. During a scheduled prison transfer, alarms are raised; screams
can be heard, followed by a blackout. When the emergency systems come online,
West realises that no one is coming for him, and soon it becomes clear that he
is the only survivor of a mutant outbreak. West must explore and travel through
the colony of Mars, in order to survive and escape, and as the game unfolds the
story of what occurred is slowly pieced together.

From the very outset Subterrain tries to explain the basics
of this survival game through an optional tutorial, explaining the menu systems
and various elements that require your attention. Scavenging, crafting and
surviving are the three main elements introduced to you, however rather than
ease you into what to expect it all comes across as quite complex. As a
survival game, Subterrain has a large number of meters to keep a careful eye on.
Sleep, thirst and hunger are the obvious ones, but some of the other factors to be
mindful of are body weight, oxygen, temperature, bleeding, urination and defecation.
Yes, that’s right you need to keep an eye out for the toilet. Survival in this
game isn’t always about you as well. The colony on Mars will need some TLC at
times if you are to keep on going. An example of this is where your oxygen
levels may be getting low and then the facility will need repairs to its oxygen
generators. Thermal generators work much in the same way but these control temperature.

The colony however is
packed with items that are useful not only for surviving but for crafting as
well. Crafting new weapons and improving them are vital to survival as you
traverse the levels of the colony. With this in mind every cabinet, locker, desk,
and strongbox is worth taking a look at. You’ll find dolls, body lotions, touchscreen tablets, gaming devices, beer, oxygen canisters, medicine, and with space in
your bag / inventory bring limited, if you’re a survival hoarder then you’ll have to
resist the urge to take everything with you. There are storage containers that
you drop items into and return to later in the game if required. However
with Subterrain's randomly generated levels, there is no pattern to where items
will be found which adds to the question “Should I take an item or drop it?”
Whilst this system works well, but rather than finding yourself in a hunt for a
specific item that is required, just check everything until the item you need pops
up.

The enemies of
Subterrain are the mutants which come in all shapes and sizes, and some will
take a few hits from melee attacks, while others will require grenades and
rifles to take down. The levels are randomly generated, so there is no way of
knowing what may be lurking the shadows. For the most part combat is just point
and shoot using the twin sticks of the controller to control West, however the
majority of scuffles with the mutants is mainly just backing up whilst shooting
until the enemy drops.

Players are in a constant battle to survive and that constantly
requires you to keep an eye on your inventory as well as all of the meters
required to stay alive and healthy. It’s a constant race against the clock on
so many fronts, and all of these must be taken into account because if you don’t have
enough of certain items or the right equipment to complete a mission, you will
come up short.

Subterrain is a decent title that has all the elements that fans of the survival genre will appreciate and love, through the complex menus and systems that require attention in order to survive. However it’s these same complex menus and systems that may confuse and lead those not used to the mechanics of survival games to shy away from enjoying this title. Subterrain goes to great lengths to provide a true survival experience, and no one said survival was easy.